Truck Wash Savings Guide forCommercial Motor Vehicle Drivers

When researching how to save
money on a truck wash, it was disappointing to us
to find that most of the savings were directed to the businesses,
not to the drivers. However, money saving tips
are
available.

Depending on the freight you are hauling, you may
be
required to clean your vehicle -- inside, outside or both –- on a
regular basis. Since we have hauled primarily dry vans, we have no
experience whatsoever with refrigerated van wash outs or tanker wash
outs. In fact, we have never had any of the trailers we hauled washed
at all, just the tractors.

We fully realize that
different drivers have different makes and styles of trucks. For the
purposes of this page, we have written generically from the standpoint
of a driver with a high profile, "condo-style" tractor, because those
have a lot of vertical surface area to clean.

At left is shown a purple Kenworth tractor covered
in road dirt and road salt, badly in need of a truck wash.

When it comes to truck washes, there are five
basic
approaches:

Go to a commercial
facility
(such as Blue Beacon);

Have a mobile service
come to
your facility;

Do it yourself at your
trucking
company's facility;

Do it yourself at a car
wash
type facility (making
sure ahead of time that it has the vertical clearance that you need for
your truck); or

Do it yourself at home.

In the photos below, professional driver Mike Simons is
washing
the truck that he once drove for his
trucking company
at home using his own water, soap and equipment.

Environmental Concerns

Folks who run a commercial truck wash have to be
concerned about such matters as detergent, water run-off and
environmental issues. You may need to check on these issues for
cleaning your truck at home or in a parking lot somewhere.

Hand Drying

We have never paid to have our vehicle hand-dried
following a truck wash. However, the advantages of drying your vehicle
include no water spots and not attracting road dirt on the droplets.
Windows may need to be cleaned on the inside to match how clean they
are outside.

Aluminum Brighteners

Whenever Mike has paid to have his truck washed, he has
always requested the aluminum brighteners for the wheels. This does a
magnificent job of sprucing up the look of the tractor.

Clean Truck Advantages

The advantages of having a clean truck are:

A good reflection on the
company;

A positive example to the
driver;

Less scrutiny by the DOT;

Emphasis on customer
satisfaction;

Less road dirt on the truck
either weighing it down
or causing wind resistance; and

Less opportunity for winter
road treatments to
adversely affect the equipment.

If a trucking company does not think highly enough of
itself to pay for a truck wash for each truck in its fleet at least
once every quarter, what does that say about

the company,

its equipment,

its overall operations
management, and

what management thinks about
its drivers?

Think about it: What are all of the ramifications of
having a dirty truck? Among them are

the build-up of road dirt
(working its way into the
mechanical areas of the tractor, creating extra weight and potential
wind resistance) and

the build-up of various road
salts such as sodium
chloride, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride (which can lead to
rusting and corrosion).

Theoretically, a shipper could come to the
conclusion that if a trucking company is unwilling to take care of its
own equipment, it won't take care of the freight being shipped by its
trucks either. It could result in a loss of business. (Disclaimer: We
haven't heard of this happening; but in a tight economy, having a good,
clean company image can make the difference between getting and keeping
business and losing it.)

When we were at the
headquarters of the trucking company that Mike drives for in December
2009, he learned from one of the guys operating a mobile truck wash
unit that the company had not paid for any fleet
tractors to be washed for the last 13 months (that is, since November
2008). The only cleaning that they were doing was on trucks being
assigned
to new hires. We personally disagree with this philosophy, but this is their
choice, not ours.

Trailers
can also be badly in need of a wash.

Budgeting Time for a Truck Wash

Among your concerns should be timing. A mobile truck
washing service might be able to wash tractors at trucking
companies
while they are parked at a terminal. If you go to a commercial
facility, you may have to wait in line for the service, and then wait
while the service is performed on your truck. One expert estimates that
it should take between 20-30 minutes to properly wash a truck.*

Payment

Mike says that he is aware
that Blue Beacon accepts:

Cash,

Credit cards,

Comcheck, or

Fleet
account payment.

Conclusion

Based on everything we've read about this subject, it is
foolhardy not
to practice good external truck cleanliness as a means of protecting
one's investment in trucking equipment. Leaving a truck unwashed for
months and months at a time may seem to be a direct cost savings, but
in the end it could end up leading to even greater indirect cost
outlays.

Frequency: Contrary
to
conventional wisdom, the
less often you wash your truck may not save you money. Consider the
wear and tear that road dirt and road salt has on your equipment.

Amount of work done:
You
may not need a wash
with "the works," but can make do with the basics. Consider the pros
and cons of getting a wash or rinse that will get rid of road salt,
especially in the winter.

Discounts or coupons:
Does the service offer
these and if so, what do you have to do to get and use them? Are there
time limits involved?

Frequent washer rewards:
Some truck washes may
offer a reward based on volume washing or give a free wash after so
many have been paid for (like "buy 9 washes, get the 10th one free.")
Ask if the washes must be done within a limited time period or apply
only to the same truck.

Referral bonus:
Sometimes
companies will issue
a reward of some kind to an existing customer who refers a new
customer. At least ask if this is available.

Please note that independently owned truck washes
are not required to accept driver reward points in exchange for
services. In fact, we've never seen any advertisements to the effect
that a commercial facility on the grounds of a truckstop
would accept
driver rewards points. However, it is possible that given enough driver
requests, such a set-up can be made sometime in the future.